Downtown Napa With Kids

We were guests of the Avia Napa on this trip. I received no other compensation beyond the room, and the hotel did not require that I express a particular point of view. We paid our own way at the Scientopia Discovery Center and The Little Gourmet and those businesses did not know that I would be blogging about my experiences.

It is always tricky to drag the kids out of a new hotel room - they want to fully explore every nook before heading out for a new adventure. Still, with nightime quickly approaching, we decided to head out and explore.

Our first stop was the Scientopia Discovery Center. Just outside of the downtown core, this small children's activity center is intended more for locals than tourists. It made a great place for the kids to unwind after the car ride.

D climbs on one of the indoor play structures at Scientopia

Scientopia is part hands-on science museum, part playspace. There's a separate area for crawlers (to keep them out from underfoot of the big guys), but we spent our time in the area for preschoolers. We've certainly been to bigger and fancier children's museums, but this was the most lovingly designed kids playspace I've visited.

There were a wide variety of activities, from climbers to a grocery store, to a puppet theater and life-sized Lincoln Logs

E plays at the train table at Scientopia in Napa

Wind Tunnel Experiment - one of many hands on science experiments at Scientopia

But my favorite part were the hand-made hands on science experiments. Many of them were inspired by exhibits at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Each seemed to have been hand-made by the owner, and with exhibits like a Magnet Table, a Wind Tunnel and pulleys, there was lots for the kids to check out.

D & E moved back and forth between pretend play, active play, and science as I sat on a couch and watched, played with the baby, and sometimes joined in the fun.

The owner practically had to kick us out at closing time! Luckily we had spotted an intriguing looking restaurant on our walk over.

The Little Gourmet bills itself as "A kid's restaurant that is grown up friendly," and I think that's a pretty accurate way of describing it. The kids were thrilled when we walked in, not only was the atmosphere casual, but there were bookcases full of toys that they could bring to our table. They made careful selections before sitting down at the table and listening to the menu.

Little Gourmet Restaurant in Napa

The menu itself was divided into kids and grownup entrees. Everything is freshly made (no craft Mac and Cheese here), and presentation of the kids dishes is fun-spirited. For example, E's standby of Soba noodles were rethought as "Snakes and Worms" with marinated Chicken "snakes" sitting on top of Soba Noodle "worms." A peanut butter dipping sauce masquerades as "mud" for the snakes to slither into.

Ever the realist, E wasn't buying into the fantasy, and he insisted that his soba noodles be served straight-up, with neither Snakes nor mud. D, though, after some initial hesitation, loved her salmon, presented on a fish plate with special fish-shaped chips.

Fishy Chips at The Little Gourmet in Napa (Fresh Sauteed Fish Filets, with Avocado-Black Olive Salsa, and fishy-shaped Tortilla Chips for dipping)

My husband and I shared a very-grown up plate of Sauteed Salmon. It was fresh, tasty, and well prepared. Certainly it was more elegant than the food we would be served at most places we can take the kids to, and in most cities, I'd consider this to be a great meal. In a gourmands destination like Napa I expect that we'd have eaten even better if we did not have the kids in-tow. Overall, this restaurant did a great job of serving us an enjoyable grown-up meal and serving the kids something that was both healthy and fun for them.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for bed. After the drive and all the day's activities we were all exhausted, and I fell asleep singing to the kids. No late-night blogging for me.

Check back to see what we do on our first full day in Napa!

Filed Under: travel-stories

3 comments | Posted on February 10, 2010 | Save to del.icio.us

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